Good Gravy!
by Miss Hal Gibson
Summary: Jeanette was going to cook. She was determined to provide Simon with a nice home cooked meal for Thanksgiving, even if it meant she had to work harder than she ever had in her life to achieve that goal. There was a problem, though...Jeanette couldn't cook. Simonette.


**AN: Hey everybody! This is a...er...Thanksgiving story. Come on, it's only a little over a month late! I tried finishing this by Thanksgiving day, but I wasn't able to and got frustrated and gave up on it...but I loved how it turned out so much, I decided I might as well finish it and post it, even if it's not Thanksgiving. **

**So..thanks for reading! I own ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  
**

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _Jeanette groaned as the alarm clock went off for the second time that morning. She reached over tiredly and knocked the annoying contraption off of her bedside table. This morning was different than most mornings. She didn't have to get up early to go to classes, and she didn't have to go to work shortly thereafter.

It was the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving. This was the first year that she and Simon would be away from the rest of their family on the family-oriented holiday. Eleanor and Theodore always cooked a great Thanksgiving feast, but this year Simon and Jeanette would have to miss out on it. They had chosen to further their education a great distance away from where the rest of their families resided.

To make matters worse, Simon wasn't home. Being the overachiever he always was, he decided to take the opportunity to get in more hours at work, since he didn't have any classes that day. It made Jeanette feel slightly lonely, but she decided this also gave her a great opportunity.

* * *

Jeanette was going to cook. She was determined to provide Simon with a nice home cooked meal for Thanksgiving, even if it meant she had to work harder than she ever had in her life to achieve that goal. There was a problem, though...Jeanette couldn't cook. She could learn, though.

The Chipette pulled up the rickety blinds that shielded the inside of her small apartment from the outside world. Just as she thought, it was raining. She couldn't let the weather stop her, though, she was too determined. She had to go shopping.

Within minutes, Jeanette found herself strolling down the puddle-covered sidewalk in a dark purple raincoat and rubber boots, barely able to hold up the heavy umbrella that prevented the downpour from drenching her. Luckily the little run-down grocery store that provided the small town with food was only a block away.

* * *

The grocery store was full of last minute shoppers, and, needless to say, the selection in Thanksgiving food had dwindled down to practically nothing. There was one scrawny little turkey left. Jeanette stuffed it under one arm and scanned the rest of the store for other things she saw Theodore and Eleanor prepare for their family each year.

She ended up leaving the store with two grocery bags full of Thanksgiving goods and a cook-book, plus the turkey she carried under her arm. She was now unable to shelter herself with her umbrella, luckily it was only drizzling now, and she could carry the contraption in her mouth.

* * *

Cook book in hand, Jeanette got to work. If there was one thing she'd learned throughout the course of her life, it was that any knowledge a person needed to know could be obtained by cracking open a book.

Unfortunately, books couldn't give you skills, and that's exactly what she needed to pull this off. She blatantly ignored that fact, though. Instead, she popped the turkey in the oven, albeit at a much too high temperature, and got to work on the side dishes.

It didn't take long for her to realize something that she had been very unfortunate to forget. There were things in cans...she didn't have a can opener. In a surge of determination and frustration that was quite unlike the calm, collected Chipette, she found herself stabbing at the cans with a butcher knife.

* * *

A satisfied smile planted itself onto Jeanette's face when she had successfully freed all of the food from the cans without injuring herself. It felt good, like she'd accomplished something. She glanced up at the clock, Simon would be home in three hours. She figured she had time to take a small break while the food cooked, so she sat at the table and turned up the radio.

She was surprised to hear the voice of Alvin Seville begin to echo off of the walls. The energy in the song that played made her laugh, it was as if Alvin was telling her to get back up and get moving. She did just that.

Jeanette knew better than to dance, of course. She had two left feet. But she did feel quite energized as she prepared the food.

Suddenly, though, all her hard work came crashing down on her. Literally. In what felt like a split second, she tripped over her own shoelaces, causing the gravy she was carrying to fly through the air and land all over the floor. She grabbed the table by instinct, pulling off the table cloth and sending the food flying. As she landed on her face and her glasses clattered to the ground near her, she heard a loud 'POP!' that she could only imagine was the turkey exploding inside of the oven.

* * *

Jeanette didn't even bother to get up. She just stayed there, drenched in both gravy and her own misery. She felt hot tears form in her eyes, she had failed.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps and the radio being turned down almost all the way. She couldn't see anything, of course, but she knew Simon had entered the room.

"Jeanette! Are you okay?"

"S-Simon..you're home early.." Jeanette tried standing up in the puddle of gravy around her, only to slip and fall onto her face once more. Simon flinched.

"I-I was coming home early to surprise you...what happened?" Jeanette watched, bleary-eyed, as he glanced around the room, his eyes widening as he took in the mess.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Simon..." The Chipette sat up slowly in the mess of gravy, making sure not to attempt and stand like she had last time. Tears rolled down her cheeks, intermingling with the gravy and other food stuck to her face.

She sighed and closed her eyes, turning her head to the floor. She felt absolutely terrible...she had tried her hardest, but she still failed. She felt as though she couldn't do anything right. She heard him sigh, too. He didn't say a word.

* * *

Her emerald eyes opened once more when she felt a hand on her cheek. Simon was sitting there, on the floor, amongst the mess, with her. He was wiping some of the food off of her face with his sleeve. Jeanette bit her lip, still not looking up at him. "S-Simon...you'll ruin your shirt..." He still said not a word.

But, when he stopped wiping off her face, she glanced over to where he was now wiping off her glasses. He placed them on her face, and, even through the gravy-smeared lenses, she could see clearer than she could without glasses at all. She saw the smile on his face. "I have plenty of dress-shirts." She couldn't help but smile herself.

* * *

Soon, though, her smile transformed into a frown as she was finally able to fully take in the mess she had caused. She felt her lip tremble. "I...I ruined Thanksgiving..." She heard him chuckle. She looked up at him, finally, and raised an eyebrow. "W-what's so funny?"

"Jeanette, you didn't ruin Thanksgiving."

"But..." He pit a finger over her lip and smiled.

"I didn't expect you to try to cook...so I got take-out on my way home from work." He gestured to the table, but Jeanette couldn't see what was sitting on top of it. "It's your favorite." Jeanette gasped.

"You got Chinese?" Simon nodded, his lips curling into an even bigger smile.

* * *

The two bespectacled Chipmunks then made an attempt to stand. Unfortunately, though, the gravy on the floor had other plans for them. As soon as they both got to their feet, those same feet pulled them back down.

Simon landed backwards on the slippery floor with a loud _'smack', _Jeanette landing on top of him. She let out a loud squeak. "Simon! Are you okay?"

Simon winced. "Yeah, I'm-"

* * *

_"Bop bop-a-lu-ba a whop bam boo_

_Tutti frutti, oh Rudy_

_Tutti frutti, oh Rudy_

_Tutti frutti, oh Rudy_

_Tutti frutti, oh Rudy_

_Tutti frutti, oh Rudy_

_Bop bop-a-lu-ba a whop bam boo!"_

* * *

Simon and Jeanette glanced over at where the radio hung off of the table, its cord straining to keep its hold onto the plug that provided it with its power.

They glanced back at one another for a moment, before each burst into a fit of nervous laughter.

"Alvin may be trouble, but he always knows how to brighten a room." Simon smirked as his brother's voice burst forth from the radio, as he sung one of the many songs they had covered in the past.

"Indeed he does." Jeanette frowned. "I wish we could be with them this year..." She glanced over at a picture that hung on the wall, of the two of them with his brothers and her sisters. She sighed.

"At least we have each other." He chuckled again. "Of course, we also have this wonderful _feast _the cooks at the Chinese restaurant made for us." He gestured towards the unseen table again.

Jeanette felt her smile broaden. He was right, as long as they had each other, it didn't matter what the food was. After all, this holiday was about family, and friendship. Love, and celebration. Perhaps this wouldn't be a bad Thanksgiving after all.

* * *

**Heh, hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!**


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